


the sequence of a life form raised in the sand

by Missy



Category: Burn Notice
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-17
Updated: 2011-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-14 20:11:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/153003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and water - what it means to him, and how it's accompanied him through life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the sequence of a life form raised in the sand

No one believes Sam Axe when he says that he was born thousands of miles from any ocean, in an impossibly huge industrial hospital in Detroit. But that – for once – is the honest truth. He was born land-locked, concrete the first natural sight that greeted his eyes. But it was the water that called him on like a siren, pulled him from the family nest, cast him adrift on an endless stream of blue.

His childhood introduced him to water. His family had a cabin out by a lake, and every summer he would journey there with the rest of the family. All of the Axe boys learned to swim young – his father was an ex-merchant Marine who believed in preparedness, and at three Sam was dunked without warning into the cool, clear waters. He took to it like a little brown eyed duck, cutting through the reeds for hours, until his skin wrinkled like a prune’s and the moon hung low and white over the jet black surface.

At fourteen he started bringing girls there, courting them with a rope swing and a ready grin, grape soda mixed with vodka stolen from his parent’s liquor cabinets. His feet would tangle around their legs, paddling with one hand, the other wrapped around a beautiful, tan-skinned girl. This was how he lost his virginity, toes curled in the disintegrating sandbar, his face buried in the neck of his first serious girlfriend.

He can hold his breath for a hell of a long time under there. It impressed his drill instructor, and that was why Sam was always selected for missions that involved long submersions. Everyone else in his unit joked that he should get his own deep sea diving outfit when he finally got out. Sam was more of a body boarder back then – he threw himself into things without fear, headfirst, toes pointed in the air.

He brought Amanda to the Riviera for their honeymoon; she sunbathed, he went snorkeling and swimming. Right there and then he should have realized the relationship never would last; she never wanted to dip her toes in the surf.

The good thing about being branded a professional failure is that he got to pick where he washed up. He picked Florida – land of sun and surf, where he could spend hours tanning out by the roaring ocean, spend days swimming, fish through midnight. The scent of the water is part of him now, his hair smelling of the salt of the breeze, tasting like the depths of fathoms beyond and below his feet.

Long ago, he had the power and velocity of water thrust upon him. But now he chooses it of his own will, knowing that he would never allow himself to live landlocked again.


End file.
